Iowa communities get cash in herbicide settlement
January 24th, 2013 by Ric Hanson
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A law firm says more than 70 Iowa communities are getting a total of more than $3.5 million from the settlement of a lawsuit filed against a Swiss manufacturer of the herbicide atrazine. The Iowa City Press-Citizen says Iowa City’s share is nearly $141,000. Spokesman Jerry Brown for Korein Tillery, the law firm that handled the lawsuit, says a dozen Iowa communities will receive between $100,000 and $350,000 each from the $105 million settlement. The lawsuit against Syngenta was settled in October.
City officials say Iowa City water customers are no longer being exposed to the weed killer, which can run off farm fields. The city began operating a new water treatment facility in 2003, and the water no longer comes straight from the Iowa River.